Search

Students are considered the most essential internal stakeholders in the higher education sector. They play a significant role in quality assurance processes. This study aims to investigate students' engagement with and perceptions of Vietnamese higher education quality assurance. The study conducted an online survey questionnaire for undergraduate students in five major cities across Vietnam. The researchers utilised convenience sampling method to draw a representative sample from the target population. The 1,323 valid responses were collected and analysed using IBM's SPSS Statistical Tool. The results show that most of the Vietnamese students were aware of quality policy and quality assurance models implemented at their institutions. The purposes of quality assurance and the focus level of quality assurance were also reported on by the majority of respondents. However, the positive change as to the results of quality assurance implementation was not clearly observed by the students. The paper concludes that Vietnamese students were involved in several major quality assurance processes, and they were aware of only important quality assurance tools implemented at their university.

The primary aim of this research is to investigate the impact of utilizing the scaffolding method on teaching academic writing in the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at universities in Vietnam. This mixed-method study examined the attitudes and perceptions of 88 EFL educators from diverse backgrounds and degree levels who were randomly selected for the research. Methodologically, data were gathered and analyzed using the appropriate methods for each instrument, including a questionnaire and focus group discussion (FGD). Theoretically, the study is a medley of relevant theories and approaches such as Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory of Learning, the Scaffolding theory, and the "High challenge - High support" pedagogy. The results of this study suggest that participants used scaffolding to some extent and had strongly positive attitudes and perceptions regarding its practical aspects; however, the findings also revealed that the surveyed lecturers are deficient in the necessary knowledge and skills. In addition, the study's findings imply that EFL teachers need training on how to properly use scaffolding as a pedagogical strategy to facilitate teaching academic writing to EFL students.

While teacher loyalty, as in many other professions, generally stems from the satisfaction gained from their work, there remains considerable debate on how teachers of ethnic minority (EMI) students can derive satisfaction from their exceedingly exacting work. Although many researchers have investigated the relationship between teacher satisfaction and their loyalty to teaching, little is known about the variation in those characteristics between sub-groups of teachers teaching at EMI schools, especially in developing countries like Vietnam. This study therefore sought to understand the loyalty of teachers teaching at Vietnamese EMI schools. A structural equation model was used to analyze empirical data from a survey with 248 teachers. The findings indicated that teachers teaching EMI students, compared to their counterparts teaching ethnic majority (EMA) students, found evident satisfaction and showed unswerving loyalty to their teaching jobs.

In this study we modeled the environmental literacy of Vietnamese preschool teachers. 324 in-service preschool teachers from Ha Noi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam contributed to the study via an online survey. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses of the relationships between environmental knowledge (KN), environmental awareness (AS), decision attitude (DA), personal behavior (PB) and environmental teaching activities (ACT) of these teachers. The results showed that the level of environmental literacy of preschool teachers in Vietnam was moderate with mean score for AS, DA, PB, and ACT ranged from 3.18 to 4.32 on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The results also indicate that the preschool teacher's KN had a positive impact on AS and DA; PB was influenced by AS, but not by KN or DA. In addition, a correlation analysis showed AS and PB had a positive impact on ACT, while DA had a negative influence on ACT. These findings imply that preschool teachers with certain desirable environmental literacy had more tendencies to implement ACT. Based on the findings, recommendations and implications are provided for policy makers, preschool teachers, and researchers in Vietnam and other countries.

This study aims to explore the relationship between the influential factors of online learning and the satisfaction of economics and business majors with the quality of their training in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 900 students in private universities completed a questionnaire. The principal findings of this research are that the students are satisfied with their online learning and that learning conferencing software is the most important driving factor leading to the students' satisfaction when compared with learning conditions and learning devices. Another interesting finding is that the experience of using learning conferencing software results in a slight difference in the students' perceived level of satisfaction, adding that users with more than two years' experience are more satisfied with their training quality than users with less than one year's experience. However, the results also show that students want to switch to offline learning when the pandemic is over. This study should, therefore, be of value to higher education authorities wishing to understand their students' perceptions of online learning. In addition, results from the study suggest more managerial approaches as well as improve the online teaching quality during the pandemic.

The study aims to determine the status of organizing science activities for preschoolers aged 5-6 and teachers' views on improving science education quality for 5-6-year-olds in Vietnam. The research was undertaken on 150 preschool teachers working with 5-6 years old classes in 24 public preschools in 3 provinces, including Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue. Mixed methods, including surveys, interviews with teachers, and observation of science discovery activities, were used. According to the study results, science education activities were regularly organized in the preschools with specific plans following the school-year curriculum and the national ECE framework of Vietnam. Teachers used various methods and forms for organizing scientific activities, but the classroom environment was dominant. The participation of family and society in science activities at preschools was limited. Teachers also highlight some measures to improve the quality of science education in preschools, including providing necessary facilities, equipment, toys for preschools and increasing modern teaching methods. The findings of this study provide necessary evidence on science education for preschool children in practical terms as the basis for further studies on solutions to improve the efficiency of science education for preschool children in Vietnam.

As a developing countries, Vietnam has been facing a myriad of challenges in various aspects during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational sector is not an exception as it is currently suffering the heavy consequences of the constant disruptions stemming from the switching to online learning. This study was conducted with the aim of surveying and evaluating the views of students of the Faculty of Medicine at Nguyen Tat Thanh University on the influence of online learning on learning quality. Using data from survey questionnaires, the results show that the online learning has impacted different learning aspects of students such as: time management, online satisfaction, training problems. At the same time, the study also recognizes the contributions of students in improving the quality of online teaching of Nguyen Tat Thanh University.

This study makes use of recent evidence from developing countries by which to evaluate the effectiveness of private higher education institutions (HEIs), comparing them with public HEIs. In this way, it contributes to the literature by providing the first evaluation of productivity and its components in Vietnamese HEIs. The study uses the Färe-Primont index together with a meta-frontier approach. The research results indicate that the higher education system in Vietnam is powerfully driven by the large-scale public sector coupled with the long-term plans of Vietnamese state HEIs. Public HEIs have also been a major contributor to domestic research, and although there has been an increase in total factor productivity (TFP) throughout the research period, the private sector's TFP was 30% higher than that of the public sector. Moreover, the higher technology gap rate (TGR) of private HEIs shows the potential for greater development in the future.

In this study, the environmental education (EE) component of the pre- school teacher training programs at six (6) universities in Vietnam were examined to identify the challenges of implementing EE in these programs. The framework for the pre-school teacher training program at these universities were analyzed and 18 students in their final year of undergraduate study were interviewed to collect the qualitative data used in this analysis. The findings indicated that there was a clear gap between EE and the training of pre-service teachers pursuing a pre-school teaching-level certification rating with EE competencies. Program comparisons between the universities show a disparity in the program designer's EE views that reflect the priority given to environmentally-related courses. This study also recommends that it is necessary to implement innovative EE methods; integrate EE in all subject areas; and promote knowledge exchange between the teachers and delivery methods with the goal of systematically and comprehensively preparing prospective pre-school teachers to be EE practitioners for children.

Since 2013, Vietnam has implemented a plan to reform the whole education sector. However, there is little understanding on the status of educational research in Vietnam, which may lay the foundation for such plan. Thus, this research aims to analyze the whole picture of educational research from Vietnam, as seen from the Clarivate Web of Science (WOS) database: 215 publications were recorded, ranging from 1991 to 2018. These 215 publications were further analyzed from five perspectives: 1) number of publications by year; 2) research fields and levels of education; 3) top institutions with the highest number of publications; 4) international collaboration; and 5) quality. Some of the most notable results are: 1) the educational sciences in Vietnam have been still under-developed until recently; 2) among different research topics research among educational sciences, some (e.g., Vocational Education and Training or Early Childhood Education) seemed to be overlooked whereas others (e.g., Higher Education and Teaching and Learning) seemed to receive more attention from educational scholars; 3) all the most major education -- specialized universities did not appear among the top five institutions with highest number of publications; 4) Australia, Thailand, the USA, New Zealand and China were the countries with the highest number of co-publications with Vietnamese researchers; and 5) The majority of publications belonged to low-ranked journals. Implications would be withdrawn for Vietnamese policymakers, education leaders, educational researchers and teachers in order to adjust their policies and/or action plans; thus, enhancing the performance and impacts of educational research in the future.

To meet the demand of the incoming school curriculum reform focusing on competency-based learning in Vietnam, this paper reports on an innovation project on developing secondary mathematics preservice teachers' (PSTs) mathematical literacy and preparing them to teach mathematics contextually. We developed a curriculum and studied the effectiveness of the implementation to a secondary mathematics PST education program that integrates mathematical literacy (ML) in methods courses. The courses offer PSTs opportunities to experience ML as active learners and prepare them to teach ML. In this paper, we discuss the results on a project-based modeling task. The results showed that the PSTs begin to develop an understanding of ML when they engaged with the phases of the modeling cycle at different levels of sophistication. The PSTs did not take advantage of visual representations to support the analysis of the project-based task and to communicate their work. Discussion about the tension between simplifying models and reflecting the real problem and directions for future study are suggested.

Quality assurance of higher education has been carried out across the world in the past few decades. Therefore, setting up an effective internal quality assurance (IQA) system that fosters improvement in teaching and learning is of great significance. This research examined whether the IQA system was associated with the continuous improvement in the quality of academic programs in Vietnamese higher education institutions (HEIs). The study looked into the IQA system's infrastructure, its instruments and its efforts at program improvement across different types of HEIs including infrastructure, instruments, and continuous quality improvement efforts in academic programs that are implemented across the different types of institutions. A total of 715 responses from the survey and 46 interviews were analyzed for this paper. The findings demonstrated that the IQA of academic programs in Vietnamese higher education built the fundamental infrastructure and used indirect instruments but did not frequently use the IQA results to continuously improve educational quality. On the basis of these findings, recommendations are made to improve the IQA system of academic programs.

Academic library managers need to understand the work motivation of their staff and what inspires librarians to maximum productivity and enthusiasm as well as what prevents them from striving to achieve excellence. In a literature search, the authors found only one previous study of the work motivation of librarians in Vietnam, indicating a need for further research in this area. Using a self-designed questionnaire based on Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the authors surveyed and interviewed 220 librarians who work in 78 libraries to find out what factors affect their job motivation. The study also points out differences in motivations between academic librarians and other librarians and makes recommendations to help library managers improve staff performance.

This study examines joint-degree training in a higher education context in Vietnam, especially its different operation and quality management aspects. First, it reviews program mobility in international practices, from which it identifies critical requirements for maintaining quality and sustainable transnational partnerships. It then discusses the rationales, government policies, recent developments, and key issues related to joint-degree training operations in Vietnam. Using data collected from administrators, teaching staff, and students of selected Vietnamese universities who are involved in delivering collaborative programs, this study further explains management, teaching, learning, and quality assurance aspects and provides implications for local institutions, academics, and students engaged in cross-border partnerships.

Higher education quality assurance and accreditation were officially implemented in Vietnam over twelve years ago. From a totally centralized model, Vietnam's accreditation system has been becoming more independent, especially with the establishment of accrediting agencies. The first accreditation certificates were also awarded to universities that met quality standards and criteria. This paper investigates the development of Vietnam's higher education quality assurance and accreditation for the last decade since the national quality assurance organization was established. The study first synthesizes the results achieved within this system, both in policy and practice, leadership and management. It also discusses human resources development for quality assurance and accreditation in the national context. Next, the paper highlights the self-evaluation and external evaluation activities, two of the most important steps of the accreditation process. In addition, building a quality culture within higher education institutions is also paid attention to. Finally, lessons from the establishment and development of Vietnam's accreditation are drawn. This study looks at an overall picture of Vietnam's higher education quality assurance system since its establishment with a focus on policy, practice, leadership and management. It also hopes to contribute to the literature related to accreditation of Vietnam's higher education.

Antibiotic resistance (AR) rates in Vietnam are among the highest in Asia, and recent infections due to multi-drug resistance in the country have caused thousands of deaths each year. This study investigated a Vietnamese community's preferences for antibiotic treatment and its knowledge and attitudes regarding antibiotics. A discrete choice experiment-based survey was developed and administered to the population of interest. The respondents were given sociodemographic-, knowledge- and attitude-related items and 17 pairs of choice tasks. Two hypothetical options were included in each choice task. Latent class analysis was conducted to determine the differences among the respondents' preferences. Among 1,014 respondents, 805 (79.4%) gave valid questionnaires. A three-latent-class model with four covariates (age, healthcare-related education or career, occupation, and attitude classifications) was used in the analysis. All five attributes significantly influenced the respondents' decisions. The majority, including young employed respondents with non-healthcare-related work or education, found treatment failure more important. Older respondents who had healthcare-related education/careers and/or appropriate antibiotic use- and antibiotics resistance-related attitudes, regarded contribution to antibiotic resistance as an important attribute in selecting antibiotic treatments. Unemployed individuals with correct knowledge identified the cost of antibiotic treatment as the most essential decision-making factor. Findings suggest minimal antibiotic impact on resistance; only 7.83% view it as amajor concern. The respondents exhibited substantial preference heterogeneity, and the general Vietnamese public had poor knowledge of and attitudes toward antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. This study emphasizes the need for individual responsibility for antibiotic resistance and appropriate antibiotic use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Vietnam's coastal aquifers face the challenge of saltwater intrusion due to factors like climate change, sea level rise, and over-exploitation. This issue is particularly prominent in the Central Coastal Region, where the plains are narrow and water resources are limited. In order to ensure sustainable management of groundwater, it is crucial to assess the vulnerability of Quaternary aquifers to saltwater intrusion. For evaluation of salt, fresh water distribution in the aquifers, we applied geophysical methods, along with water sampling and analysis from boreholes and wells. Additionally, we employed Geographic Information System (GIS) to delineate vulnerability zones to seawater intrusion. The GALDIT method, incorporating the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), was used to assign weights to key indicators. The results indicate that saltwater intrusion has changed in recent years. In the North-central coastal plains, over half of the area (56.8% or 4061.8 km2) exhibits high vulnerability, while the South-central coastal plains show high vulnerability in approximately one-fifth of the area (18.8% or 1699 km2). Groundwater occurrence and the impact of existing seawater intrusion play pivotal roles in determining coastal aquifer vulnerability to saltwater intrusion. This underscores the significance of narrow, steep plains, and thin aquifers as key influential factors. To mitigate the risk of saltwater intrusion in production wells, it is crucial to consider regulating groundwater extraction in high vulnerability areas. This would limit capacity and minimize the possibility of saltwater intrusion. Effective management and exploitation of groundwater resources are essential for the sustainable development of Vietnam's coastal regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the upcoming reform curriculum initiative following competency-based learning in Vietnam, this study examines how variations of a contextualized task allow students to experience the mathematical modelling process. We explore how Grade 10 students respond to tasks with different levels of authenticity when they first attempt such tasks. Adapting the Theory of Authentic Task Situations, we designed variations of the Goat Cage task and implemented them with six small groups of students. Results showed that the modelling processes that the students progressed through differed in mathematical models used and real-world considerations, with diverse approaches when solving the more-authentic variation. Not all phases of the modelling process were observed explicitly when they engaged in the tasks. Students showed a positive disposition towards tasks with more authentic contextual information. The study suggests ways to adapt contextualized tasks to make them more authentic, which allows students to experience a holistic modelling process.

The present study investigated learner autonomy level and the use of language learning strategies in a sample of 163 first-year English majors in university. The aim of the study was to find out the correlation between language learning strategies and autonomous learning. The data collection instruments included a self-rating questionnaire and an open-ended interview. Results indicated the participants were moderately autonomous learners and their overall frequency of strategy use was medium with the most frequent use of memory and social strategies and the least of compensation and Affective strategies. Pearson correlation indicated that there was a positive correlation between learner autonomy and overall language learning strategy as well as across the six strategy categories. Understanding the relationship between learners' strategy use and autonomy may enable EFL instructors to incorporate language learning strategy training in teaching to ultimately improve learners' English language skills.

Background: Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) is an important central nervous infection with severe neurological sequelae. The aim of this study was to describe clinical characteristic and outcomes of patients with HSE in Vietnam. Methods: This was a retrospective study of 66 patients with herpes simplex encephalitis who admitted to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Hanoi, Vietnam from 2018 to 2021. The detection of herpes simplex virus (HSV) in cerebrospinal fluid was made by the real-time PCR assay. We reported the clinical manifestation on admission and evaluated clinical outcomes at the hospital discharge by modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the independent risk factors of severe outcomes. Results: Of the 66 patients with laboratory confirmed HSE, the median age was 53 years (IQR 38–60) and 44 patients (69.7%) were male. The most common manifestations included fever (100%), followed by the consciousness disorder (95.5%). Other neurological manifestation were seizures (36.4%), memory disorders (31.8%), language disorders (19.7%) and behavioral disorders (13.6%). Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed 93.8% patients with temporal lobe lesions, followed by abnormalities in insula (50%), frontal lobe (34.4%) and 48.4% of patients had bilateral lesions. At discharge, 19 patients (28.8%) completely recovered, 15 patients (22.7%) had mild sequelae, 28 patients (42.4%) had moderate to severe sequelae. Severe neurological sequelae were memory disorders (55.8%), movement disorders (53.5%), language disorders (30.2%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that Glasgow score decrement at admission, seizures, and time duration from onset of symptoms to the start of Acyclovir treatment > 4 days were independent factors associated with severe outcomes in HSE patients. Conclusion: Glasgow score decrement, seizures and delay treatment with Acyclovir were associated with the poor outcome of patients with HSE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to understand the impact of computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools on journalism in Vietnam by employing a quantitative-methods approach influenced by Social Presence Theory, Media Richness Theory, and Uses and Gratifications Theory. A quantitative survey was conducted with 335 journalists and other stakeholders in newsrooms. The results indicated that social presence significantly affects the adoption and efficacy of CMC tools in this unique cultural context. The study extended the Media Richness Theory by adding a cross-cultural dimension, and the Uses and Gratifications Theory sheds light on the motivations behind tool adoption. This research contributed to theory by adapting established frameworks to a new cultural environment and offers practical guidelines for media organizations in Vietnam undergoing digital transformation. Future research should explore interdisciplinary frameworks incorporating cultural, technological, and psychological factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores the nexus between corporate governance and sustainable development, focusing on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Vietnam. Recognizing the pivotal role of SOEs in the national economy, this study employs a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making approach (MCDM) to assess and enhance the corporate governance frameworks of these entities. First, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model is employed to identify the most qualified prospective SOEs firms based on several quantitative criteria. Then, the spherical fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (SF-AHP) model is used to identify priority weights for a given set of qualitative criteria, the Evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) model is implemented to rank enterprises in the SOEs sector. To validate the proposed models, a case study conducted within the Vietnamese electric power industry is utilized. The MCDM methodology integrates diverse factors such as business management, corporate social responsibility, and corporate governance shareholder to construct a comprehensive evaluation framework. By applying this approach, the study aims to identify the key drivers and barriers influencing corporate governance practices within Vietnamese SOEs. The study's findings illustrate the efficacy of the suggested approach in evaluating corporate governance performance, providing valuable insights for policymakers, corporate leaders, and stakeholders involved in shaping the governance landscape of SOEs in Vietnam. By aligning corporate governance with sustainable development principles, the research aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse on responsible business practices, offering practical recommendations to enhance the performance and resilience of SOEs in the pursuit of long-term socio-economic and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the factors influencing Vietnamese journalists' adoption of Artificial Intelligence in journalism. Drawing on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework, it hypothesizes that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, behavioral intention, trust, regulatory support, and technology affinity and incorporating additional trust, regulatory support, and technology affinity have significant impacts on journalists' adoption of technology. Questionnaires were administered to 238 journalists in the context of the Vietnamese press. The findings showed the significant impact of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, behavioral intention, trust, regulatory support, and technology affinity on journalists' adoption of AI in journalism. These results expand the UTAUT framework and offer a more comprehensive understanding of technology adoption in journalism. Practically, the study provides valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers in the journalism industry. Understanding the determinants of journalists' adoption can inform the development of targeted interventions, training programs, and regulatory frameworks to facilitate the integration of AI technologies into journalistic practices. However, the study has limitations, and future research should replicate the findings in diverse cultural and organizational contexts while considering additional moderating factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diarrhoea (DH) disease pose significant threats to national morbidity and mortality in Vietnam, especially on children. Being a climate sensitive disease, it has strong links to various meteorological factors like rainfalls or temperatures. Hence, together with global climate changes, the risk of diarrhoea has been increasing gradually while Vietnam is already a hotspot of diarrhoea worldwide. Thus, having an effective early warning system is becoming an urgent need. However, it has not been paid enough attention with very few research works, mainly focusing on quantilizing the relationships among various climate factors and diarrhoea incidences. Exploring more sophisticated machine learning techniques is therefore an interesting work towards more efficient and effective warning systems. This paper consists of two main contributions. First, many different state-of-the-art prediction models from traditional to most recent advantaged methods, e.g., SARIMA, SARIMAX, LSTM, CNN, Xgboost, SVM, LightGBM, Catboost, LightGBM, N-HiST, BlockRNN, TCN, TFT, or Transformer, are studied for predicting DH rates for a large number of locations (55 provinces) with different climates, geographics and socio-economy factors. It provides a useful view on the overall performances of different ML models on the prediction task, which is extremely useful for other researchers when developing early-warning systems for DH in other places. Second, we introduce a novel ensemble prediction model, called dynamic weighted ensemble (DWE), for further improving the DH prediction performance. DWE is a two layer ensemble approach. The first generates different meta models based on four base component models. The second layer employs a novel approach to predict the performances of all selected meta models and uses these predicted results to dynamically combine these models in a weighted scheme to produce final results. This is totally different to traditional ensemble approaches which only rely on fixed combinations of their components. To the best of our knowledge, DWE is also the first ensemble approach for diarrhoea prediction. Extensive experiments are conducted over all 55 provinces of Vietnam to demonstrate the performance of DWE and to reveal its important characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Brugada syndrome (BrS) is a rare genetic disease that causes sudden cardiac death (SCD) and arrhythmia. SCN5A pathogenic variants (about 30% of diagnosed patients) are responsible for BrS. Aims: Lack of knowledge regarding molecular characteristics and the correlation between genotype and phenotype interfere with the risk stratification and finding the optimal treatment in Vietnam. Therefore, we identified SCN5A variants and evaluated the genotype–phenotype correlation of BrS on 117 Vietnamese probands. Materials and Methods: The clinical characteristics and blood samples of BrS patients were collected. To determine SCN5A variants, Sanger sequencing was conducted, and subsequently, these variants were analyzed by bioinformatic tools. Results: In this cohort, the overall rate of detected variants in SCN5A was 25.6%, which could include both pathogenic and benign variants. In genetic testing, 21 SCN5A variants were identified, including eight novels and 15 published variants. Multiple bioinformatic tools were used to predict variant effect with c.551A>G, c.1890+14G>A, c.3338C>T, c.3578G>A, and c.5484C>T as benign, while other variants were predicted as disease‐causing. The family history of SCD (risk ratio [RR] = 4.324, 95% CI: 2.290–8.269, p < 0.001), syncope (RR = 3.147, 95% CI: 1.668–5.982, p = 0.0004), and ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (RR = 3.406, 95% CI: 1.722–5.400, p = 0.0035) presented a significantly higher risk in the SCN5A (+) group, consisting of individuals carrying any variant in the SCN5A gene, compared to SCN5A (−) individuals. Conclusion: The results contribute to clarifying the impact of SCN5A variants on these phenotypes. Further follow‐up studies need to be carried out to understand the functional effects of these SCN5A variants on the severity of BrS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Retinoblastoma (RB), an intraocular malignancy commonly diagnosed in children, is mostly caused by inactivating mutations of both alleles of the RB1 gene. Early genetic screening for RB1 gene mutations would greatly improve treatment outcomes and patient management. Methods: In this study, both somatic and germline mutations were detected in blood and tumour samples of 42 RB patients using direct sequencing and multiplex ligation‐dependent probe amplification. Results: In total, 34 different mutations were found in 36 patients, including 1 SNP, 4 large deletions, 5 splicing sites, 1 missense, 7 frameshifts and 17 nonsense mutations. There were five novel mutations and one unreported which have not been found in large databases such as Leiden Open Variation Database (LOVD) and ClinVar. Conclusion: A higher rate of RB patients carrying heterozygous germline mutation and highly prevalent with pathogenic truncated mutation, hence, early detection of RB is essential for vision salvation and genetic counselling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Vietnamese secondary education, translation and visuals are traditionally used as major techniques in teaching new English lexical items. Responding to the Vietnamese government policy issued in 2008 on using IT for a quality education, the application of PowerPoint has been considered the most prevalent type of technology used in the classrooms throughout in Vietnam as Rickman (2000) stated. This paper reports the impact of implementing PowerPoint in teaching vocabulary in English classes in a Vietnamese secondary education setting. The study, with a two-group pre-test and post-test design aimed to test the effects of PowerPoint on learners' vocabulary retention and to investigate their attitudes towards the use of PowerPoint-based materials in teaching and learning vocabulary. 68 grade 10 students in an upper-secondary school in the Mekong Delta participated in the study. Three instruments were used to collect data: English vocabulary tests, questionnaire on students' perceptions toward the use of PowerPoint, and interview questions on teachers' evaluation of the contributions of PowerPoint to vocabulary teaching and learning. Results indicated that participants in the experimental group outperformed those in the control group in terms of vocabulary retention and their attitudes towards the use of Powerpoint in teaching and learning vocabulary were positive.

This study investigates the viewpoints of higher education managers, staff, lecturers and students on the impacts of accreditation in institutional quality management. These views are explored via a case study approach involving semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders at a leading university in Vietnam. The study's results suggest that accreditation influences most of the university's management activities, including programmes, teaching activities, lecturers, supporting staff, learners and facilities. We argue the influence of accreditation contributes significantly to enhancing the university's quality of teaching, learning, research and management. Recommendations for improvement in the use of accreditation results are proposed.

Learning is the key for people to become different, have an identity and expand their creativity and dedication. That is also the key for a business to continuously grow in capacity, contributing to the overall development of the organization. The goal of this article is to explore the impact of organizational learning and organizational agility on innovation performance. Create cutting-edge solutions and improve corporate innovation performance by enhancing organizational learning and organizational agility across the business. In particular, businesses need to transform strongly to promptly adapt to market changes. The article uses quantitative research methods with the sample size of 295 enterprises in Vietnam. The results show that organizational learning and the general aspect of organizational agility measured in the study: sensing agility and responding agility have a positive impact on innovation performance. Thereby, suggestions to improve organizational agility and innovation performance basing on enhancing the positive impact of organizational learning are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The increasing needs of people living with dementia (PLWD) in Vietnam present an enormous public health challenge. Vietnam is an understudied country, and little is known regarding the overall unmet needs of caregivers or the demographic risk factors associated with unmet caregiving needs. This study aimed to determine the burden of unmet care needs of community‐dwelling PLWD and identify sociodemographic risks associated with unmet care needs. Methods: A cross‐sectional study in a rural area facing urbanisation in Hanoi, Vietnam recruited PWLD‐caregiver dyads with multistage sampling. We utilised the Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly (CANE) instrument to evaluate care needs across four domains. Caregivers rated PLWD needs, with higher scores indicating greater unmet needs. The Mann–Whitney test was employed for comparing two groups, while the Kruskal–Wallis test was used for comparisons involving more than two groups in the analysis, and a P‐value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Among 90 PLWD participating in the study, the overall mean care needs score was 11.6 ± 4.3, with only 16.2% of PLWD having their care needs met. Environmental and physical needs were more frequently met than psychological or social needs. Only 48.0% and 43.9% of environmental and physical needs were met respectively, and a meagre 20.9% and 23.6% for psychological and social needs. Unmet care needs were more frequent for PWLD who were female, single or divorced, had lower monthly household income, or who were in more advanced stages of dementia, as indicated by Clinical Dementia Rating scores ≥1. Conclusions: Unmet needs for PWLD are common. Increased caregiver education, resources, and services in Vietnam are urgently required to improve the quality of life for this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:Application of Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) as a ventilation method has been rarely explored in short and medium period orthopedic operations. In this study, we evaluated ventilatory efficacy of LMA in patients admitted to Ho Chi Minh City Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital, Vietnam via a number of patient indicators including changes of pulse, blood pressure, airway pressure, SpO2 and pressure of CO2 at the end of an exhaled breath (EtCO2). Method: A total of 154 emergency and elective surgery cases with anesthesia were selected for the study. Result: One minute after LMA insertion to discontinuation of anesthetic, we recorded slower pulse of patients but only twenty-six cases (16.9%) required intravenous administration of atropine. Blood pressure of patients dropped after 1 minute following LMA insertion but then recovered afterward and only nine cases (5.8%) needed administration of ephedrine. Conclusion: After surgery, only eleven (7.15%) patients experienced oral mucosal bleeding but no further special treatment was used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective - As Vietnam is a densely populated country with stable economic growth and rising concern for environmental problems in recent years, people are increasingly showing more interest in organic food. This study aims to explore the purchase intention of Vietnamese Generation Z (Gen Z) towards organic food. Methodology - We extended the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) with three specific pro-environmental factors that are health consciousness, environmental concern, and knowledge of organic food, to investigate the purchase intention of Gen Z. A self-administered online survey was conducted in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City as they are most populated cities in the country. Findings – 426 valid responses were received for data analysis after three months. Linear regression analysis was run in SPSS software to test six hypotheses. Research findings reveal that attitude has the most substantial influence on the purchase intention of Gen Z, followed by health consciousness, subjective norms, and personal norms. Notably, environmental concerns and knowledge of organic food do not necessarily affect Gen Z’s purchase intention. Our findings suggest that related stakeholders in the organic food market adjust their production and marketing tactics to attract Gen Z better. Novelty – The novelty of this paper is attributed to our effort to integrate pro-environmental variables into the TPB to test their impact on organic food purchase intention in a new research context of a transition country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore factors influencing Vietnamese people's susceptibility to fraud through cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses the gullibility theory, the theory of planned behavior theory, the traditional theory of finance and the theory of financial behavior, to develop a questionnaire which is then sent to respondents who are Vietnamese individuals. Subsequently, the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach (PLS-SEM) is used to analyze 370 collected responses. Findings: This research shows the important roles that trust, risk appetite and knowledge of Ponzi play in respect of fraud susceptibility, among which trust has the highest positive impact. Moreover, there is no evidence of relationships between Vietnamese people's susceptibility to fraud via cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes and attitudes toward investment scams, knowledge of investment or knowledge of Ponzi schemes. Research limitations/implications: This paper collects only 370 valid responses, which raises some questions regarding the diversity and representativeness of the survey sample. Practical implications: This study provides evidence on factors affecting Vietnamese people's fraud susceptibility to cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes, which helps both authorities and individuals to be vigilant against investment scams. Social implications: This research proposes several recommendations to prevent investment scams in cryptocurrency trading, from the perspective of state regulators and individuals. Originality/value: This working paper provides a new approach using PLS-SEM to build a theoretical framework for the possibility of becoming victims of investment scams in Vietnam using a combination of different theories from criminology and finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose:Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal bacteria species that can cause various illnesses, from mild skin infections to severe diseases, such as bacteremia. The distribution and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pattern of S. aureus varies by population, time, geographic location, and hospital wards. In this study, we elucidated the epidemiology and AMR patterns of S. aureus isolated from a general hospital in Vietnam.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Data on all S. aureus infections from 2014 to 2021 were collected from the Microbiology department of Military Hospital 103, Vietnam. Only the first isolation from each kind of specimen from a particular patient was analyzed using the Cochran–Armitage and chi-square tests.Results: A total of 1130 individuals were diagnosed as S. aureus infection. Among them, 1087 strains were tested for AMR features. Most patients with S. aureus infection were in the age group of 41– 65 years (39.82%). S. aureus isolates were predominant in the surgery wards, and pus specimens were the most common source of isolates (50.62%). S. aureus was most resistant to azithromycin (82.28%), erythromycin (82.82%), and clindamycin (82.32%) and least resistant to teicoplanin (0.0%), tigecycline (0.16%), quinupristin-dalfopristin (0.43%), linezolid (0.62%), and vancomycin (2.92%). Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and multidrug-resistant (MDR) S. aureus were prevalent, accounting for 73.02% and 60.90% of the total strains respectively, and the strains isolated from the intensive care unit (ICU) had the highest percentage of multidrug resistance (77.78%) among the wards.Conclusion: These findings highlight the urgent need for continuous AMR surveillance and updated treatment guidelines, particularly considering high resistance in MRSA, MDR strains, and ICU isolates. Future research focusing on specific resistant populations and potential intervention strategies is crucial to combat this rising threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we display the trajectories of Vietnam's environmental pressure throughout the years during 2008-2018 and identify the underlying socioeconomic driving factors through input-output and forward-backward linkage analysis. Decoupling index (DI) and input-output analysis (IOA) indicated that mining, the extraction, and use of fossil fuels, as well as energy generation for daily life and manufacturing industries, are the primary contributors to rising environmental pressures (DI; forward and backward linkage values > 1). Vietnam's decoupling performance has four distinct phases. Mineral and fossil fuel depletion; climate change in the short-term and longterm, and water stress indexes (the ratio of total annual freshwater withdrawal to hydrological availability) were high with 456.91%; 55.91%; 54.43%; 41.87%; and 30%, respectively during 2008-2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Larger benthic foraminifera (LBF) in Southeast Asia developed prosperously in the Neogene. So, they play a meaningful role in defining the stratigraphy and depositional environment of carbonate formations. Many studies from a lot of localities in this region have been published to present their prevalence, diversity and their significance. However, they remain poorly published in Vietnam even though they are recorded abundantly in the Miocene carbonate deposits in the Tertiary basins on the Vietnam continental shelf, especially in the Nam Con Son Basin, in the southeast. This paper presents the first review on LBF in Miocene carbonate sediments and their stratigraphic range in the Nam Con Son Basin. As a result, a stratigraphic framework for the Miocene LBF of the basin, ranging from Te5 to Tg letter stages, is established. This may be used to identify the geological age and to support the correlation of carbonate deposits in this area. In general, their evolution demonstrates the development of carbonate formations in the basin, which are connected to the opening of the South China Sea; foraminifers follow the main evolutionary lineages of the Indo-Pacific province but have distinctive characteristics. In the Early Miocene, LBF appeared sparsely in Te5, then became frequent in lower Tf1. In the Middle Miocene, they presented their diversity and abundance in the fauna of Miogypsina, Lepidocyclina (Nephrolepidina), Cycloclypeus and Katacycloclypeus. In the Late Miocene, some of them were recorded in the carbonate formations in the high structures in the southeast of the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & objectives: Postoperative delirium is a prevalent complication, particularly following cardiac surgery, and has detrimental effects on patient outcomes, including increased morbidity and mortality and prolonged stays in the intensive care unit. This study aims to estimate the incidence and identify the risk factors for delirium. Methodology: This prospective observational study was conducted on adult patients undergoing open-heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass at the Cardiovascular Surgery Unit at Bachmai Hospital, Vietnam. The Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU) was utilized to assess delirium twice daily during the initial four days post-surgery. Perioperative variables were analyzed by univariable and multivariable logistic regression. Results: Among the 285 patients included in this study, 56 were diagnosed with delirium using the CAM-ICU, representing a prevalence rate of 19.6%. Multivariate regression analysis revealed several independent risk factors for delirium, including advanced age (odd ratio - OR; 95% confidence interval-CI) (1.07; 1.03-1.10), a history of cerebrovascular accident (3.95; 1.31-11.84), prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass duration (1.02; 1.00-1.03), postoperative atrial fibrillation (2.47; 1.15-5.28), and opioid use time (13.65; 5.69-32.75). Conclusion: The incidence of delirium after open heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass was 19.6%. Advanced age and a history of cerebrovascular accidents were identified as non-modifiable risk factors for postoperative delirium. Meanwhile, there were three modifiable risk factors, including cardiopulmonary bypass duration, atrial fibrillation, and the time of opioid administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice is an important food crop in Vietnam and facing challenges due to climate change, limited cultivation area, and limited adaptable varieties. Therefore, field experiments were carried out in two seasons of summer 2022 and spring 2023 at the Agricultural Science Institute for Southern Coastal Central of Vietnam (ASISOV), Binh Dinh province, to evaluate the growth, development and yield of new promising short duration rice lines and varieties in Binh Dinh province. Promising 10 lines and varieties namely ANS1 (control), BDR97, BDR57, BDR79, BDR87, BDR36, Line 159, Line 243, Line 64, and Line 46 were used for the study. They were arranged in a randomized block design with three replications. Research results showed that the duration of rice lines and varieties ranged from 90 to 112 days. The yield of the lines and varieties was from 5.94 to 7.44 t/ha in the summer season 2022 and 6.42 to 8.05 t/ha in the spring season 2023. The quality of rice lines and varieties was rated from average to good. Two new promising varieties were identified, including BDR79 and BDR57, with a short duration of 91-103 days, yield from 7.27-8.05 t/ha, higher than the control variety from 11.6-20.5% and belonging to good quality classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: Nutritional status of infants, measured by birth weight and length, is an essential factor in neonatal development. Malnutrition in newborns may lead to a higher risk of mortality, neurological and cognitive impairment, and poor language development. Objective: This study aims to assess the nutritional status of infants and related factors regarding maternal anthropometric characteristics and medical history. Methods: A cross‐sectional study was conducted at the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vietnam from May 2021 to May 2022 on 340 infants and mothers. Low birth weight was defined following the Intergrowth‐21 standards. Stunting was evaluated using the Fenton growth chart when the length was below the 10% percentile line of the gestational week. Multivariate regression models were applied to identify factors associated with the nutritional status of infants. Results: We found that 12.4% and 14.1% of infants in our study fell into stunted and underweight categories, respectively. Infants of mothers over 35 years old, having a height lower than 150 cm or experiencing anemia during pregnancy were more likely to be stunted or have low birth weight. Serum albumin deficiency during pregnancy was strongly associated with the infant being underweight (odds ratio [OR] = 2.8, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.1–7.3). Newborns were more likely to be stunted if their mothers had a history of preterm birth (OR = 3.3, 95%CI 1.1–10.2). Interpretation: Maternal nutritional status is closely related to infant malnutrition, particularly in preterm infants. Improving the understanding of mothers regarding prenatal care, reproductive healthcare, adequate nutritional diet, and multi‐micronutrient supplements during pregnancy is therefore important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Worldwide migration represents a major challenge of the 21st century. Despite the strong association between acculturation and mental health, research findings on underlining mechanisms remain inconsistent. Prior research urges to investigate sample characteristics in a more structured manner. Aims: The purpose of this study was to systematically investigate factors impacting acculturation and depressive symptoms in a large, not exclusively clinical, sample of Vietnamese migrants in Germany. Method: This study investigated, with multiple regressions, factors (age at arrival, gender, education, religiousness, language skills, residence status, economic status, occupational status, migration motivation, duration of stay, and depressive symptoms) impacting the two dimensions of acculturation, dominant society immersion (DSI) and ethnic society immersion (ESI), in a not exclusively clinical sample (n = 582) of first-generation Vietnamese migrants in Germany. Further, this study examined the relationship between depressive symptoms, DSI and ESI with correlations and acculturation strategies with an ANOVA. Results: Integration (72.5%) was the most common acculturation strategy, followed by separation (26.8%). In contrast, assimilation (0.5%) and marginalization (0.2%) were very rare acculturation strategies. As predictive factors for DSI lower depressive symptoms scores, male gender, higher education, and better German language skills were found significant. For ESI, less German language skills and older age at arrival were found to be significant. Higher ESI and DSI were correlated to lower depressive symptom scores. Compared to the three other acculturation strategies, integration was linked to the lowest depressive symptoms scores. Conclusions: The current study identified crucial factors in the acculturation process, such as depressive symptoms, language skills, education, gender, and age at arrival. Our findings emphasize that immersion into both the dominant and the ethnic culture plays an essential supportive role in the mental health of migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring populations is critical for understanding how they respond to anthropogenic disturbance and for management of protected areas. The use of passive acoustic monitoring can improve monitoring efforts as it allows for collection of data on vocal animals at spatial and temporal scales that are difficult using only human observers. In this study, we used a multiseason occupancy model to monitor occurrence, apparent extinction, and colonization probabilities of a northern yellow‐cheeked gibbon, Nomascus annamensis population with acoustic data collected from mobile smartphones in Dakrong Nature Reserve, Vietnam. Forty‐five sites were randomly selected for repeated surveys in 2019 and 2022. At each site, a mobile smartphone was attached to a tree and recorded sounds for 4.2 days and 3.89 days on average, in 2019 and 2022, respectively. We manually annotated spectrograms for the presence of gibbon calls, and we detected gibbons at 24 and 12 recording posts in 2019 and 2022, respectively. Estimated local apparent extinction from occupancy models was high with 67% of occupied sites in 2019 becoming unoccupied in 2022. Apparent colonization was low with ~25% of unoccupied sites in 2019 becoming occupied in 2022. As a result, the apparent occurrence probability declined from 0.58 in 2019 to 0.30 in 2022. If the absence of calls indicates that cells are unoccupied this would mean an alarming decline of the gibbon population in the nature reserve. We suggest that in the areas with high hunting pressure, monitoring intervals should be shortened to at least yearly. In addition, urgent actions, such as patrolling, or gun confiscation, should be implemented to conserve the gibbon populations in Dakrong Nature Reserve and other protected areas with the same management context. Research highlight: We used mobile smartphones to record the sounds of gibbons in the nature reserve for 2 to 5 days at each recording post. We detected gibbons at 24 and 12 recording posts in 2019 and 2022, respectively.Apparent extinction was high with 67% of occupied sites in 2019 becoming unoccupied in 2022. Colonization was low with ~25% of unoccupied sites in 2019 becoming occupied in 2022. The occurrence probability declined from 0.58 in 2019 to 0.30 in 2022.Urgent actions such as gun confiscation and conservation education should be implemented to save the endangered gibbon population in the nature reserve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year, Vietnam faces typhoons accompanied by strong winds. Semi-permanent houses are severely damaged by these winds. We researched a strengthening method using a Polypropylen (PP) band to prevent housing damage caused by strong winds. In this study, we have developed a new method of fixing PP band to bricks. The PP band is sandwiched between two flat steel washers and fastened with steel screws to a plastic plug embedded in the side of the brick. A total of 49 specimens were used to study the influence of the PP band on the flexural, shear, and torsional behaviors of brick masonry. In the flexural tests, the results show that the average load-carrying capacity at ultimate failure and deflection at first crack of the PP band specimens was 1.7 and 1.62 times, respectively, higher than those of non-PP band specimens. In the shear tests, the tests on the strengthened specimens showed an increase in the shear strength for all pre-compression ranges of 0.2–0.6 N/mm2. However, it was not significant. Similarly, the initial stiffness was not significantly affected by the pre-compression level in both the reinforced and unreinforced cases. In the torsion tests, the improvements in the average load-carrying capacity and deformation ability at the first crack were 1.21 times and 1.47 times, respectively. In the reinforced specimens, at ultimate failure, a slight increase in load was observed, but it did not exceed the initial peak load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic activities are constantly increasing in the southern key economic region (SKER), especially in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), which leads to the influx of large amounts of wastewater from this region into Ganh Rai Bay (GRB). The problem of assessing the marine environmental carrying capacity (MECC) of coastal areas is urgent, and the role of self-cleaning must be elucidated. Four typical pollution parameters were selected: ammonium (NH4+), biological oxygen demand (BOD), phosphate (PO43−), and coliforms. The study aims to propose a framework to assess the impact of the role of self-cleaning on MECC and to apply the proposed framework to GRB as a case study. A series of models were used to simulate hydrodynamics, and an advection–diffusion model with an ecological parameter set was used for water quality modelling. The land–ocean interactions in the coastal zone model were used to calculate the GRB and East Sea retention time. Finally, a multiple linear regression model was used to clarify the relationship between the MECC and self-cleaning factors. Calculation results show that the self-cleaning factor increased the MECCAmmonium by 60.30% in the dry season and 22.75% in the wet season; similar to MECCBOD, MECCPhosphate increased by 5.26%, 0.21% (dry season), and 11.04%, 0.72% (wet season), respectively. MECCCColiforms in the dry season increased by 14.83%; in the wet season, MECCColiforms doubled. The results provide medium-and long-term solutions to improve the water quality of the GRB, especially the selection of activities that conserve the ecological system and improve the self-cleaning capacity of the bay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PM2.5 pollution exposure is the leading cause of disease burden globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries, including Vietnam. Therefore, economic damage in this context must be quantified. Long An province in the Southern Key Economic (SKE) region was selected as a research area. This study aimed to evaluate PM2.5-related human health effects causing early deaths attributable to respiratory, cardiovascular, and circulatory diseases in all ages and genders. Health end-points and health impact estimation, economic loss model, groups of PM2.5 concentration data, data of exposed population, data of baseline premature mortality rate, and data of health impact functions were used. Hourly PM2.5 concentration data sets were generated specifically using the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF)/Community Multiscale Air Quality Modelling System (CMAQ) models. Daily PM2.5 pollution levels considered mainly in the dry season (from January to April 2018) resulted in 12.9 (95% CI − 0.6; 18.7) all-cause premature deaths per 100,000 population, of which 7.8 (95% CI 1.1; 7.1), 1.5 (95% CI − 0.2; 3.1), and 3.6 (95% CI − 1.5; 8.5) were due to respiratory diseases (RDs; 60.54%), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs; 11.81%), and circulatory system diseases (CSDs; 27.65%) per 100,000 population, respectively. The total economic losses due to acute PM2.5 exposure-related premature mortality cases reached 62.0 (95% CI − 2.7; 89.6) billion VND, equivalent to 8.3 (95% CI − 0.4; 12.0) million USD. The study outcomes contributed remarkably to the generation and development of data sources for effectively managing ambient air quality in Long An. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to cluster politically affiliated groups using machine learning. The sample used in the study is enterprises listed on the stock exchanges of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, research data during the period from 2015 to 2020. Data used in the study include state ownership ratio, the degree of political connection of business leaders and financial indicators in the listed financial statements of enterprises. The author's study measures political connection by K-means algorithm and then compares the results of the K-means clustering with the traditional method of manual measurement of political connection including two values of 0 and 1, where 0 is no political affiliation and 1 is political affiliation. At the same time, the author runs three clusters to have in-depth insight. The authors conclude that machine learning clustering using the k-means model can replace the traditional method. Politically connected businesses listed on HOSE and HNX with political connections bring many benefits to businesses in investment activities, in accessing resources as well as capital; however, that businesses have a negative impact on business performance. The authors recommend that a moderate degree of political affiliation will help businesses achieve better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the environmental education (EE) component of the pre-school teacher training programs at six (6) universities in Vietnam were examined to identify the challenges of implementing EE in these programs. The framework for the pre-school teacher training program at these universities were analyzed and 18 students in their final year of undergraduate study were interviewed to collect the qualitative data used in this analysis. The findings indicated that there was a clear gap between EE and the training of pre-service teachers pursuing a pre-school teaching-level certification rating with EE competencies. Program comparisons between the universities show a disparity in the program designer's EE views that reflect the priority given to environmentally-related courses. This study also recommends that it is necessary to implement innovative EE methods; integrate EE in all subject areas; and promote knowledge exchange between the teachers and delivery methods with the goal of systematically and comprehensively preparing prospective pre-school teachers to be EE practitioners for children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cathelicidins include antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and are involved in the innate immune defense against infections in mammals. Polymorphisms in the DNA sequence of cathelicidin genes could be relevant to inherited variations of host innate immunity, adaptation, and pathogen resistance. This study aims to investigate the sequence polymorphism of cathelicidin genes including CATHL2 and CATHL4 from local indigenous yellow cattle breeds of Vietnam. Genomic DNA samples were extracted from 52 individuals collected from different cattle populations in Vietnam including Ha Giang, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Phu Yen. The CATHL2 and CATHL4 genes were amplified by PCR, following sequencing for identification of the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and/or insertion-deletion (indel) DNA sequence variations. The copy number variations (CNVs) of the CATHL4 gene were determined by cloning, single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and real-time PCR. The comparative analysis results showed that there are 13 SNPs detected in all sequences of CATHL2 gene including 9 SNPs in intron 2 and intron 3, and 4 missense substitutions in exon 1, 2, and 3. These SNPs do not affect the predicted tertiary structure of Bac5 encoded by this gene. For CATHL4, the results revealed 15 SNPs, 3 indels and 1 repeat variation as motif (TG)n(G)n/(AC)n(C)n. Among these variations, the deletion 46delC in exon 1 of CATHL4 was detected in a sample of the Ha Giang breed causing a truncated polypeptide as predicted. The average copy number of CATHL4 of Vietnam indigenous cattle breeds using GADPH as a reference gene showed in range from 2.53 to 2.89 copies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bestselling fiction is an interesting and controversial phenomenon which attracts the attention of a wide range of academic circles from many areas such as socio-economic study, cultural study and literary study in nearly one hundred years. It has been studied firstly in English speaking countries where it was born, then extended to many other countries in Europe, America, Asia, and Pacific Islands. In Viet Nam, due to the newly formed market economy in postwar period, this phenomenon has just sprouted in Doi Moi literature. According to our investigation, there has not any theoretical and systematical research on this object in Viet Nam except for some short papers, not to mention applied studies. It is a gap need filling as soon as possible. The result of the first step of this task is introduced concisely in this paper that is a summarization of English bestselling fiction studies in the context of twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The severe heatwaves and hot spells in Vietnam were observed more frequently in intensity and duration due to global warming and climate change impacts. The hot days and extreme summer events make the weather harsh and significantly affect human health and the environment. This study presents the spatiotemporal distribution of the number of hot days (NHDs) in Vietnam. The variability of NHD in seven climate subregions is also examined in association with the large-scale drivers. The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis version 5 (ERA5) data for the period 1981–2020 are used. Principal component analysis is also applied to the observed monthly NHD to obtain spatial patterns and time series. The results show that the NHD in the Highland and South subregions from March to May is linked with the subtropical high associated with decreased 500hPa-level vertical velocity (VV500). From May to June, the North and Central subregions seem related to deepening the Asiatic low and enhancement of southwest flows across the Indochina Peninsula. Finally, both increased southwest flows and decreased VV500 can partly contribute to the intensification of NHD in the North and Central subregions during July and August. The long trends of NHD are also examined. The results reveal that the increasing trends in NHD occur in most subregions, except for the Central Highland, and changing trends of NHD in June greatly contribute to the annual trend of NHD. Finally, the examinations with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation events show that NHD is significantly higher in El Niño events than in La Niña events in March and April for the Northwest, South Central, Central Highlands, and South, in May and June for all subregions, and in July and August for only the Red River Delta subregion. This suggests that ENSO can provide the potential for improving seasonal climate forecasts and mitigating natural disaster risks for the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]